Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BE-GIN', v.t.

1. To do the first act of any thing; to enter on; to commence. Ye nymphs of Solyma, begin the song. – Pope. And this they begin to do. – Gen. xi.
2. To trace from any thing, as the first ground; to lay the foundation. The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us to the knowledge of God. – Locke. To begin with, to enter upon first; to use or employ first; as, to begin with the Latin grammar; to begin business with a small capital.